Conventionalism,structuralism and neo-Kantianism in Poincaré׳s philosophy of science

Poincaré is well known for his conventionalism and structuralism. However, the relationship between these two theses and their place in Poincaré׳s epistemology of science remain puzzling. In this paper I show the scope of Poincaré׳s conventionalism and its position in Poincaré׳s hierarchical approach to scientific theories. I argue that for Poincaré scientific knowledge is relational and made possible by synthetic a priori, empirical and conventional elements, which, however, are not chosen arbitrarily. By examining his geometric conventionalism, his hierarchical account of science and defence of continuity in theory change, I argue that Poincaré defends a complex structuralist position based on synthetic a priori and conventional elements, the mind-dependence of which precludes epistemic access to mind-independent structures.     

Books received

R. P. de Lamanon was trained in theology and philosophy, but he chose the career of a self-taught geologist/naturalist, later adding experimental physics to his skills. Recommended by Condorcet, Secretary to the Académie Royale des Sciences, for the post of ‘Naturaliste’ on La Pérouse's expedition, he carried out delicate measurements at sea requested by the Académie and made two important discoveries: the barometric tide at the equator, and the variation of magnetic intensity with latitude. Killed by natives of Samoa in 1787, his reports were long delayed in publication, inadequately presented, and some even lost. Except for brief recognition by von Humboldt many years later, Lamanon's pioneering measurements have been largely ignored or forgotten. This paper revives his memory.     

The Instrument That Never Was: Inventing,Manufacturing, and Branding Réaumur's Thermometer During the Enlightenment

At the beginning of the 1730s René Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur published two long memoirs on a new type of thermometer equipped with a specially calibrated scale — known ever since as the Réaumur scale. It became one of the most common ‘standardized’ thermometers in Europe until the late nineteenth century. What made this thermometer so successful? What was it specifically? I will first argue that the real Réaumur thermometer as an instrument was a fiction, a ghost — an idealized instrument. On paper, it was theoretically flawless. In reality, the standardized Réaumur thermometer was most likely never achieved. This article shows that its success was essentially due to a recontextualisation from theoretical natural philosophy — Réaumur's principle of uniformity — to: 1) the context of artisanal knowledge and practices and 2) the context of making and reporting in the Mémoires de l'Académie royale des sciences actual measurements done in the field (in Paris at the Observatory, in Provincial France, in the Colonies, and in the rest of Europe). Réaumur's thermometer was essentially a theoretical method to which was associated a particular scale. It was the instrument's reification for market consumption and fieldwork that gave this specific type of thermometer materiality and authority. Although most Réaumur thermometers ever made were strikingly different from one another, over time the thermomètre de Réaumur designation became a brand, a seal of approval born from customary artisanal practices and cultural habitudes.     

Les Cadrans Solaires Analemmatiques

Résumé

Le cadran solaire analemmatique est présenté pour la première fois par un mathématicien français, appelé Vaulezard, dans un petit fascicule publié en 1640. Suit un deuxième ouvrage, plus complet, en 1644. Dernier venu, ce cadran attire l'attention d'importants savants tels que Foster et Lalande. Parfait dès le départ, il a néanmoins la singulière particularité d'inspirer diverses tentatives d'amélioration, plutôt infructueuses, et d'être à l'origine de quelques variétés de cadrans analemmatiques qui, elles, connaissent un franc succès. Nous apportons la preuve trigonométrique et, pour la première fois semble‐t‐il, la preuve géométrique de sa validité astronomique en suivant fidèlement la méthode de construction indiquée par Vaulezard. Nous effectuons, en outre, un survol aussi exhaustif que possible des différents modèles dérivés de ce cadran ainsi que de la littérature les concernant.

Summary

The analemmatic sundial was briefly presented for the first time in 1640 by the French mathematician Vaulezard and was described in more detail by him in 1644. The analemmatic dial is the last genuine sundial to be invented and it has attracted the attention of some important scholars such as Foster and Lalande. Although perfect from the very beginning, it had the unusual particularity of inspiring several unfortunate attempts at its improvement as well as being at the origin of a few other types of analemmatic dials, which met with a certain success. We provide here the trigonometric proof and for the first time, the geometric proof of its astronomical validity by closely following the construction method of Vaulezard. We also make a comprehensive survey of the different kinds of analemmatic sundials and of their literature.     

Nicolas Béguelin and his search for a crucial experiment on the nature of light (1772)

In the second half of the eighteenth century a lively debate was going on in Germany about the nature of light. One important contribution to this discussion, namely a paper by Nicolas Béguelin, is studied in this article. In his essay, Béguelin compared the Newtonian emission theory of light and the wave theory of Leonhard Euler. Whereas others opted for one of the two theories by invoking arguments or authorities, Béguelin made a systematic search for experiments which he hoped would settle the dispute. Two of these experiments were most original. The first, which Béguelin himself performed, concerned light rays grazing a glass surface. For several reasons it did not have the impact it deserved. The second one was a thought experiment which was meant to illustrate a major tenet of the wave theory, that is, the analogy between light and sound. An analysis is given of these two experiments, and it is shown that neither of them brought the debate to an end.     

Organisation des laboratoires de chimie à Paris sous le ministère Duruy (1863–1869): Cas des laboratoires de Fremy et de Wurtz1 Cette étude a fait l'objet d'une communication à l'ESF workshop on chemical laboratories à Lisbonne (Portugal), 25–27 novembre 1996.

As soon as he was appointed Minister of Public Instruction in 1863, Victor Duruy embarked on a major reform of French education. One of his most important initiatives was the creation of a new secondary curriculum (l'enseignement spécial) designed to prepare for careers in industry, trade, and agriculture. Edme Fremy, professor at the Muséum d'histoire naturelle, took the opportunity of proposing a course of instruction in practical chemistry that would be offered at the Muséum for young men intending to work in industry. Duruy approved the proposal, and funds were immediately made available. In contrast, Charles-Adolphe Wurtz, who led an internationally recognized research laboratory in organic chemistry in the Paris Faculty of Medicine, had difficulty in securing either administrative recognition or financial support. This article draws on the correspondence that Fremy and Wurtz exchanged with Duruy and senior officials in the Ministry between 1863 and 1869 to bring out the significance of the divergent ministerial responses to the two laboratories.     

From secondary causes to artificial instruments: Pierre-Sylvain Régis's rethinking of scholastic accounts of causation

Although several of Descartes's disciples established occasionalism as the natural outcome of Cartesianism, Pierre-Sylvain Régis forcefully resisted this conclusion by developing an account of secondary causes in which God does not immediately intervene in the natural world. In order to understand this view, it has been argued that Régis melds Aquinas's concurrentism with the new, mechanist natural philosophy defended in Cartesian physics. In this paper, I contend that such a reading of Régis's position is misleading for our understanding of both his account of secondary causality and the relationship between medieval debates and seventeenth century natural philosophy. I show that Régis's account of secondary causality denies two fundamental features at the core of the account proposed by Aquinas, namely that God acts immediately in nature and that secondary causes are per se causes. I contend that Régis's view more closely resembles a specific account of artificial instrumental causality developed by Duns Scotus. The comparison with Scotus shows that Régis is still dealing with conceptual tools that can be traced back to the scholastic tradition. Yet, Régis implements these tools to establish an account of causation that is fundamentally irreconcilable with scholastic natural philosophy.     

Who let the demon out? Laplace and Boscovich on determinism

In this paper, I compare Pierre-Simon Laplace's celebrated formulation of the principle of determinism in his 1814 Essai philosophique sur les probabilités with the formulation of the same principle offered by Roger Joseph Boscovich in his Theoria philosophiae naturalis, published 56 years earlier. This comparison discloses a striking general similarity between the two formulations of determinism as well as certain important differences. Regarding their similarities, both Boscovich's and Laplace's conceptions of determinism involve two mutually interdependent components—ontological and epistemic—and they are both intimately linked with the principles of causality and continuity. Regarding their differences, however, Boscovich's formulation of the principle of determinism turns out not only to be temporally prior to Laplace's but also—being founded on fewer metaphysical principles and more rooted in and elaborated by physical assumptions—to be more precise, complete and comprehensive than Laplace's somewhat parenthetical statement of the doctrine. A detailed analysis of these similarities and differences, so far missing in the literature on the history and philosophy of the concept of determinism, is the main goal of the present paper.     

Effects of mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extracts on cultured tumor cells

Summary Bacterially fermented mistletoe preparations (BFMP) were tested on rat hepatoma tissue culture (HTC) cells and human leukemia Molt 4 cells. A dose-dependent inhibition of the growth rate of the cells was observed. For both cell lines, cytostatic concentrations, expressed in weight of fresh plant, were 0.5 mg/ml culture medium for oak BFMP and 1 mg/ml for apple tree BFMP. However, the action of the two preparations was markedly different on each cell line. Non-viable HTC cells were not stained by trypan blue while non-viable Molt 4 cells were fully colored by this reagent. A lysis of cellular membranes of HTC cells was observed by electron microscopy. Furthermore, oak BFMP inhibited the growth of virus transformed 3T3-SV40 cells more than that of non-transformed 3T3 cells. In contrast to BFMP, non-fermented extracts and a purified mistletoe lectin showed a greater inhibition of the growth of Molt 4 cells than of HTC cells. Samples withdrawn at different times during fermentation gradually lost their inhibitory effect on the growth of Molt 4 cells while their action on HTC cells increased up to the 4th day of fermentation. These results are discussed in relation to the cytotoxic substances of mistletoe already characterized.The bacterially fermented mistletoe preparations, named BFMP in the text, were obtained from the Hiscia Institute, CH-4144 Arlesheim, Switzerland, under the name of Iscador. For oak BFMP, mistletoe was fromQuercus petraea Liebl. andQuercus robur L.; for apple tree BFMP fromMalus domestica Borkh.     

“The soul of the fact”—Poincaré and proof

Henri Poincaré acquired a reputation in his lifetime for being difficult to read. It was said that he missed out important steps in his arguments, assumed the truth of claims that would be difficult if not impossible to prove, and in short that he lacked rigour. In the years after his death this view coalesced into an exaggerated claim that his work was simply too vague, and has become a cliché. This paper argues that Poincaré was far from indifferent to rigour, and that what characterises his work is an attempt to convey a particular sense of what it is to understand a topic. Throughout his working life Poincaré was concerned to promote the understanding of many domains of mathematics and physics. This is as apparent in his views about geometry, his conventionalism, and his theory of knowledge, as it is in his work on electricity and optics, on number theory, and function theory. It is one of the ways Poincaré discharged his responsibilities as a scientist, and that it accounts not only for a surprising degree of unity in his work but also gives it its distinctive character—at once profound and elusive.     

Assimilation of mineral nitrogen and ion balance in the two partners of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis: Data and hypothesis

Summary Assimilation pathways of mineral nitrogen and ion balances of the two partners of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis (fungi and woody plants) are reviewed. Data are presented about the partners both in pure culture and in mycorrhizal association. The two forms of mineral nitrogen, ammonium and nitrate, differ in their mobility in the soil, their transport into the cells, their uptake rates by plants and their assimilation pathways. These metabolic differences are related to differences in adjustment of ion balances and carbon metabolism under conditions of nitrate or ammonium nutrition. The data obtained on the partners of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis are discussed from this point of view and the observations composed with those on herbaceous angiosperms.     

Mycobacterial adjuvant and its carrier

Résumé Une fraction peptidoglycolipidique peut être extraite à partir du BCG par décapage acide dans un mélange de solvants fortement lipophiles. Cette fraction appelée ?LF? peut reproduire l'activité adjuvante du BCG entier dans les réactions immunitaires à médiation cellulaire et humorale. L'activité adjuvante du BCG appara?t comme liée à ce composant actif, LF, car après son extraction, le résidu bacillaire (BB) est dépourvu d'activité adjuvante. Néanmoins lorsque BB est utilisé pour adsorber (?véhiculer?) LF, le complexe BB-LF s'est révélé le meilleur adjuvant.

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This work was performed at the Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Department of Zoology, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508, USA.     

Alkaloidal oviposition stimulants for a danaid butterfly,Ideopsis similis L., from a host plant,Tylophora tanakae (Asclepiadaceae)

Chemicals releasing oviposition by an Asclepiadaceae feeder,Ideopsis similis, were identified from a host plant,Tylophora tanakae. A strong positive response was evoked by a methanolic extract of the plant, which proved to contain multiple stimulants. A mixture of two phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids, (+)-isotylocrebrine and (–)-7-demethyltylophorine, isolated from organic fractions, elicited significant ovipositional responses from females.     

Effects of mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extracts on cultured tumor cells

Bacterially fermented mistletoe preparations (BFMP) were tested on rat hepatoma tissue culture (HTC) cells and human leukemia Molt 4 cells. A dose-dependent inhibition of the growth rate of the cells was observed. For both cell lines, cytostatic concentrations, expressed in weight of fresh plant, were 0.5 mg/ml culture medium for oak BFMP and 1 mg/ml for apple tree BFMP. However, the action of the two preparations was markedly different on each cell line. Non-viable HTC cells were not stained by trypan blue while non-viable Molt 4 cells were fully colored by this reagent. A lysis of cellular membranes of HTC cells was observed by electron microscopy. Furthermore, oak BFMP inhibited the growth of virus transformed 3T3-SV40 cells more than that of non-transformed 3T3 cells. In contrast to BFMP, non-fermented extracts and a purified mistletoe lectin showed a greater inhibition of the growth of Molt 4 cells than of HTC cells. Samples withdrawn at different times during fermentation gradually lost their inhibitory effect on the growth of Molt 4 cells while their action on HTC cells increased up to the 4th day of fermentation. These results are discussed in relation to the cytotoxic substances of mistletoe already characterized.     

Plasmids controlling the resistance to several antibiotics in C. perfringens type A, strain 659]

A strain of C. perfringens type A, isolated from a patient, was found to be resistant to four antibiotics: tetracycline (Tet), chloramphénicol (Chl), erythromycin (Ero) and clindamycin (Cli). Clones resistant to only two drugs (Tet-Chl or Ero-Cli), or sensitive to all drugs were found in cultures of the wild-type strain treated by acridine dyes or ethidium bromide. DNA analysis by equilibrium centrifugation confirmed that the original strain contains two resistance plasmids, one called Rip 401 (Tet-Chl) and the other Rip 402 (Ero-Cli), which represent respectively 1.8 +/- 0.2% and 2.3 +/- 0.2% of the total amount of DNA in this strain of Cl. perfrigens.     

Are host plants important in pheromone-mediated mating systems of lepidoptera?

Summary The role of host plants in the synthesis and release of lepidopteran sex pheromones is examined. Females synthesise pheromones de novo and pheromone quality is not markedly influenced by larval food sources. However, host plants may have a significant effect on different physiological and behavioural parameters associated with pheromone production. Males in some species of Nymphalidae and Arctiidae use secondary plant compounds, such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids, as a pheromone precursor. In such cases these plant compounds serve an additional role, such as protection against predation, and may reflect potential male reproductive investment. In the one instance where the effect of larval host plants on the de novo synthesis of a male sex pheromone was examined, larval nutrition did not alter either the quality or quantity of the hairpencil contents.     

Was Feyerabend an anarchist? The structure(s) of ‘anything goes’

The near consensus in the secondary literature on Feyerabend is that his epistemological anarchism, characterized by the slogan ‘anything goes’, was not a positive proposal but the conclusion of a reductio argument against his opponents (Lloyd 1997; Staley 1999; Munévar 2000; Farrell 2003; Tsou 2003; Oberheim 2006; Roe 2009). This makes anarchism a mere criticism rather than a substantive position in its own right. In this paper, I argue that Feyerabend held anarchism as a positive thesis. Specifically, I present two possible interpretations of anarchism: one where anarchism is entailed by Feyerabend's radical view of pluralism and another where scientists must be ‘methodological opportunists’, which Feyerabend held simultaneously from at least 1970. I then consider how these positions fare against the more influential criticisms of anarchism (Nagel 1977; Worrall 1978; Godfrey-Smith 2003). I conclude by suggesting two avenues to constraining a literal interpretation of ‘anything goes’ on Feyerabendian grounds.     

Effect of reserpine (serpasil®) on increased oxygen consumption induced by triiodothyronine

Résumé Chez des cobayes rendus hypothyro?diens au moyen de ladl-triiodothyrosine, la Réserpine diminue la consommation d'oxygène. Les résultats présentés suggèrent que la Réserpine agit comme un antagoniste de ladl-triiodothyrosine. L'action de l'hormone thyro?dienne (exogène ou endogène) sur la consommation d'oxygène est empêchée probablement par un mécanisme localisé à la périphérie.

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Reserpine (Serpasil?) used in these experiments was generously supplied by Ciba Pharmaceutical Products, Inc., Summit, New Jersey.

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This work was supported by a grant from Ciba Pharmaceutical Products, Inc.     

Sur L'origine du ‘Principe Général’ de Jean Le Rond D'Alembert

This article intends to propose new hypotheses concerning the origin of the ‘Principe général’ of mechanics of Jean Le Rond D'Alembert expressed in its Traité de dynamique in 1743. The examination of the statics of Pierre Varignon and its inheritance suggests that D'Alembert retains, through a case of oblique collision on a hard surface, a method of decomposition and equilibrium of forces which is close to its principle. On the other hand, this principle requires a definition of the equilibrium widely spread in the 17th and 18th centuries, D'Alembert seeming then more to innovate from an epistemological point of view that on a technical one. Finally, the determination of rules of collision based at the same time on decompositions of movements at the level of the centre of mass and on appeal to a principle of relativity constitutes a know-how at the beginning of the 18th century which can be moved closer to methods developed by D'Alembert. These three aspects try then to replace the science of D'Alembert in a context by insisting on the essential role of the collisions of body and on that of the notion of equilibrium concerning the birth of its principle.